Mobile devices, such as laptop computers, cellular phones, smart phones, personal digital assistants (PDA), media players and other mobile electronic devices have become more robust and prevalent. Mobile devices offer more wireless access to data networks and processing power in order to perform various functions. Oftentimes, mobile devices do not include keyboard, a large display, a mouse, a printer, or any other peripheral devices. Mobile devices may utilize docking stations or port replicators to attach various peripheral devices. For example, a physical connection may be made between the mobile devices and a docking station in order to provide the necessary ports to connect to various peripheral devices.
A docking station may provide a fast and convenient mechanism to allow the mobile devices to attach or detach from peripheral devices. Mobile devices may dock or undock from a docking station hot, cold or standby, depending on the capabilities of the mobile devices. In a cold dock or undock, the mobile devices are shut down before docking or undocking from the docking station. In a hot dock, the mobile devices remain running or active when docked or undocked from a docking station. In a standby dock, the mobile devices remain powered on but require the mobile devices to be placed into a sleep mode prior to docking or undocking from the docking station. However, docking stations are not standardized and are, therefore, often designed to communicate with a specific make, model or a device because of a wide range of mobile devices having different connectors, power signaling, and communication protocols. Moreover, docking stations are fragile and cannot offer protection to the docked mobile devices. In addition, the docking station cannot be updated or upgraded to new software or hardware in order to be compatible with new mobile devices.